Franz Douskey has been published in over 200 publications including The New Yorker, Rolling Stone, and The Nation. His fourth book, West of Midnight, reached number 24 on the Amazon Best-Sellers list in 2011 and was nominated for a Pulitzer Prize. His new book, Sinatra and Me: The Very Good Years, is based on extensive interviews with Tony Consiglio, who was Frank Sinatra’s friend and confidante for over 60 years. Tantorious is a semi-monthly podcast series featuring interviews with well-known authors, hosted by Allan Hoving and presented by Tantor Audio.

Tim O’Brien received the 1979 National Book Award in fiction for Going After Cacciato. His other works include the acclaimed novels The Things They Carried; July, July; and In the Lake of the Woods. Written before Going After Cacciato, If I Die in a Combat Zone: Box Me Up and Ship Me Home is an intensely personal account of O’Brien’s year as a foot soldier in Vietnam. Tantorious is a semi-monthly podcast series featuring interviews with well-known authors, hosted by Allan Hoving and presented by Tantor Audio.

Brian McGrory is a longtime newspaper reporter, editor, and columnist. Born and raised in and around Boston, he has written for and edited the Boston Globe since 1989. He has a twice-weekly column that appears on the front of the metro section, for which he has won the Scripps Howard journalism award. He also is the author of four novels. His new book, Buddy: How a Rooster Made Me a (Family) Man, is a heartwarming and wise tale of finding love in life’s second chapter—and how it means all the more when you have to fight for it. Tantorious is a semi-monthly podcast series featuring interviews with well-known authors, hosted by Allan Hoving and presented by Tantor Audio.

Chris Ballard is a senior writer at Sports Illustrated and was a 2012 National Magazine Award finalist. He is the author of The Art of a Beautiful Game, The Butterfly Hunter, and Hoops Nation. His new book, One Shot at Forever: A Small Town, an Unlikely Coach, and a Magical Baseball Season, tells the inspirational story of a high-school baseball team from rural Illinois in 1971. Led by an English teacher with no coaching experience, the Macon Ironmen emerged from a field of 370 teams to become the smallest school in Illinois history to make the state final, a distinction that still stands. Tantorious is a semi-monthly podcast series featuring interviews with well-known authors, hosted by Allan Hoving and presented by Tantor Audio.

Born in Belfast, Ireland, Wayne Simmons is the author of the zombie novels Flu and Fever, just published in print, e-book and audiobook editions by Tantor Media. Bram Stoker Award-winning author Joe McKinney calls Simmons “the bare knuckle boxer of the zombie genre. He hits hard, and he’s absolutely relentless.” Tantorious is a semi-monthly podcast series featuring interviews with well-known authors, hosted by Allan Hoving and presented by Tantor Audio.